The U.S. Navy has been one of the leaders in the conception, design and construction of underwater search vehicles. Most of these vehicles are configured to a rectangular form and have a combination of conventional thrusters for obtaining propulsion in any desired direction. Typically the thrusters are laterally spaced on the vehicle and can be canted or selectively reversed in their direction of thrust of obtain turning moments. These vehicles are not the optimum in efficiency since they are bulky and undergo a considerable amount of drag as they conduct their underwater searches. The most desirable configuration is a long narrow cylinder (torpedo shape). Such a shape minimizes propulsion energy and allows easy handling for launch and recovery. Unfortunately, the propulsion techniques utilized aboard the rectangular type of vehicles are not satisfactory for the torpedo shape. Even the propulsion means for a torpedo, which includes an aft mounted propeller and control surfaces, is not satisfactory because of the slow speed maneuvering required by a search vehicle. There is a need for a single propeller system which can obtain variable thrust in various directions for a torpedo-shaped type of search vehicle.